GLOBSEC Intelligence Reform Initiative

30/10/2016

The recent attacks of transnational terrorist networks have disclosed failures in counter-terrorism liaison and provoked the need for better cooperation beyond borders of national states. Therefore, GLOBSEC Intelligence Reform Initiative addresses this problem by providing the means for pre-empting terrorist attacks before they occur, rather than relying on effective investigation after the event.

Michael Chertoff
Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of the Chertoff Group, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security

Carl Bildt
Former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden

August Hanning
Former President of German federal Intelligence Agency

Lord John Reid
Former Secretary of Defence and Home Secretary of United Kingdom
Solutions

GIRI offers four bottom-up practical solutions:

1. Establish a permanent Core Transatlantic Counter-Terrorism Hub in order to provide a secure space for linking existing national counter-terrorism centres with high degrees of mutual trust. Its success would encourage less capable or willing nation states to improve their services to join.

2. Set up Operational Case-Based Task Forces within to the Hub, designed to react ad hoc to emerging counter-terrorism challenges. These would promote joint execution of intelligence-led operations and better intelligence/personal information sharing.

3. Introduce a single search interface to enable real time information exchange. The so called ‘hit-no-hit’ single search interface would enable each nation to hold its data but encrypted searches would help identify information or patterns for follow-up.

4. Launch a transatlantic Counter-Terrorism Centre of Excellence to enable joint standardisation and training. This will create a much-needed bridge between intelligence and law enforcement professionals